The present invention relates to an absorbent article such as a diaper and an incontinence guard comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet and an absorbent body enclosed therebetween, wherein the article having a front portion, a rear portion and a crotch portion therebetween, and further is provided with a pair of belt portions attached to the rear portion, alternatively the front portion of the article and which are intended to be fastened together around the waist of the wearer by means of the first fastening means and where said front portion, alternatively the rear portion, is provided with attachment means intended to be attached to the belt portions, in such a way that the article will assume a pantlike shape, where the belt portions form a part of the waist portions of the pant.
Diapers and incontinence guards usually exhibit a garment portion holding an absorbent body in place against the user""s body and attachment means, which hold the garment portion in place also when the user is moving. A common type of attachment means are adhesive tapes or hook and loop fasteners of the touch-and-close type, which directly attach the front and rear portions of the absorbent article to each other. It is further known, through e.g., EP-A-0 287 388, EP-A-0 409 307, EP-A,0 528 282, EP-A0 605 012 and FRA-A-2 586 558, to attach the front and rear portions of the article by means of a belt, wherein the possibilities to adjust the fit are improved.
A conventional diaper for children is in general applied having the child in a lying position. The attachment means are usually arranged on the rear portion and are attached to the front portion. This kind of application often requires the aid from another person. However, for an adult user it is more desirable be able to self apply the incontinence guard. On a common type of belt diaper the belt portions are therefore first attached around the waist.
When the incontinence guard is fixed around the waist in this way, the user may reach after the rest of the incontinence guard between the legs and then the crotch portion of the incontinence guard is applied in the correct position by fastening the front portion of the diaper to the outside of the belt portions using hook and loop fasteners or tape tabs being arranged on the font portion and/or the belt portion. This design makes also possible for nursing personnel to apply the diaper on a standing person or for the user to apply the diaper on himself/herself in a standing position.
One problem is that the belt not properly adapts itself to the shape of the body it has been applied to, which leads to discomfort for the wearer at usage. The forces in the belt are concentrated to the centre potion of the belt and are generated from the fastening means on the belt, There are no forces acting in the upper or lower part of the belt. Often, the lower pat sits too firm and need to be able to loosen up whereas the upper part often needs to be closer to the body.
One way to solve this problem would be to use some kind of elastic material to make the product more flexible, However, the costs for the materials used in these products must be kept low, since these products are principally intended for one single use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,488 describes a product mainly intended for children, which among others exhibit elastic waistbands arranged on the rear portion and which are intended to be attached around the waist portion of an user. However, these elastic waistbands are mainly there to assist on preventing leakage. On the other hand, to design the whole waist band using elastic materials is expensive. It is also difficult to combine a well working fastening system with elastic materials in the belt.
GB 2,292,067 shows a conventional diaper having elastic side portions on the rear portion on which fastening means are arranged. It only exhibits elastic materials in order to make sure that the fastening system itself will fit the wearer better, The document does not show a product being provided with a belt according to the present invention, which first is applied around the waist and then to attach the front portion to the belt portions by means of fastening means preferably arranged on the front portion.
Therefore there is a need for absorbent article provided with a belt, wherein the belt adapts itself to the user using the diaper and also feels comfortable to wear.
The object of the present invention is to provide a belted diaper or incontinence guard being comfortable to wear and which fits persons having different sizes. This object is being solved in that the belt portions are attached to the rear portion alternatively the front portion of the article via firsts elastic side panels being arranged on the article and that the front alternatively the rear portion of the article exhibits second elastic side panels to which fastening means are attached. These elastic side panels allow a flexibility of the position of the belt around the waist and distribute the forces evenly over the belt which gives an increased comfort.